FIRE IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

Patricia DutreyApril Stowell

FIRE IN YOSEMITE

75 Years of Fire Managementin

the National Park1930-2010

1871 Peshtigo, Wisconsin 2400 sq. miles 2000 lives lost 1894 Minnesota 100+ sq. miles 900 lives lost 1910 Idaho, Montana “Big Blowup” 3 million acres, 78 to 85 firefighters killed

1918 Minnesota

1500 sq. miles 450 lives lost

1915-”the Ten O’clock Rule"

10 O’clock Rule:By 10 am the morning after its discovery,

all fires will be extinguished.

The natural fire return interval in Yosemite is 15 years. By 1930 this interval had missed onecomplete cycle. The first large fire hits Yosemite in 1948.